Australian Markets Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is notably lower on Tuesday, reversing the slight gains in the previous session, following the mixed cues from European markets and lack of cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is falling below the 8,950 level, with weakness in mining and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 67.40 points or 0.75 percent to 8,943.50, after hitting a low of 9,025.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 64.10 points or 0.70 percent to 9,136.50. Australian stocks closed slightly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto is losing almost 1 percent, Fortescue is declining more than 1 percent and BHP Group is edging down 0.4 percent, while Mineral Resources is gaining more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Santos is edging up 0.3 percent, while Origin Energy and Woodside Energy are edging down 0.5 percent each. Beach energy is flat

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block, Zip and Appen are edging up 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Xero and WiseTech Global are losing almost 2 percent each.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining, Resolute Mining and Genesis Minerals are losing almost 1 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is edging down 0.2 percent. Newmont is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking is declining more than 1 percent and National Australia Bank is edging down 0.4 percent, while Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are losing almost 1 percent each.

In economic news, Australian consumer sentiment dropped 5.2 percent to 84.4 points in September 2026, driven by fears of rising interest rates and higher fuel costs, according to a survey by Westpac-Melbourne Institute. This is after a 6.0 percent gain in August. ?The index was down almost 12 percent from last year.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.722 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, the markets were closed for Labor Day on Monday after closing lower on Friday.

The major European markets turned in a mixed performance on Monday. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged down 0.08 percent and Germany's DAX closed 0.15 percent down. France's CAC 40 gained 0.33 percent.